Recovering
by Caroline Greene
Summary: Post season 6. What happens with Doyle and Nadia after season six. Starts immediatly after end of day 6. Mostly writen in Nadia's POV. REVIEW PLEASE.
1. Chapter 1

Exiting the building was like entering a different world

Exiting the building was like entering a different world. The sun was shining and birds were singing. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. Everything was so…calm, peaceful even. After the last 24 hours of hectic work I guess I thought the world would look a little different.

When I got in my car I checked the messages from my personal cell phone. The robotic voice announced I had three new voicemails.

"Hey, Nadia—it's Milo. Listen, I know you probably won't get this message until after work, but I just wanted you to—uh, to know that if you ever want to get together…sometime…that'd be cool. Just to talk, you know? Anyway, if you get this message after work I'll see you tomorrow."

I snapped my phone shut. I didn't want to listen to any more messages. It was bad enough to hear his voice…but to hear him say 'I'll see you tomorrow'? I suddenly felt angry. I was angry at him for leaving this message, for having to be the hero. I chucked the phone back to the passenger seat and drove home. I didn't want to deal with this, not now.

I rummaged through my fridge and found my leftover Chinese from the two nights ago. Feeling tired and defeated, I collapsed onto the couch and turned on the TV.

"Nadia?" My little sister's voice called out from my guest room bedroom.

"Yeah?" I said flatly, half hoping she wouldn't hear.

She stormed out wearing pajamas. "Where have you been? I called you _and_ left messages." She stood between me and the TV with arms crossed.

"Work, Nijah, you should try it sometime."

"Oh, you're real funny, Nadia." She rolled her eyes and sat next to me. "So what happened? At work I mean."

I shook my head and she sneered at me. "Oh that's right. You can't talk about your super secret government job. Well guess what?" She glared at me as her cheeks reddened. "I've been here by myself for almost two days! You weren't here to drive me to school…I'll probably get behind on my homework and I was suppose to go to the mall yesterday to get my Jonas Brothers CD signed and—"

"Enough!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. "I don't need a lecture right now, especially from a twelve year old! If living with me if so awful you can go back with aunt Parveen to Pakistan."

Nijah looked at me blankly for a second, as if in complete shock. Then her face crumpled and she covered her face with her hands.

"Nijah," I said softly, suddenly feeling guilty for my outburst.

Without looking back at me, she ran to the bathroom and locked the door. I shook my head and followed her. I knocked. "Nijah?" She didn't answer. I sighed and leaned against the door. 'She needs space, that's all' I told myself.

"Listen, Nijah, I can give you twenty minutes to get ready, then I can give you a ride over to the mall. I've got a…friend to visit near there…at the hospital. Would that be okay?"

I listened intently for a reply. Finally I heard a muffled "Okay."

"Okay, I'll be waiting in the car."

She joined me in the car close to half an hour later. We drove in silence for a few minutes.

"So," Nijah said awkwardly, trying to break the silence. "Who's this 'friend' at the hospital you're visiting? Someone you work with?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I said. "His name is Mike."

"Oh?" She said, raising an eyebrow. "Is he…a _good_ friend?"

"No. Well, I don't know—maybe. It's hard to explain." Seeing Nijah's confused expression I decided to try to explain. "I just met him today…And we're not friends, he's kind of a jerk actually."

"Then why visit him if he's a jerk?"

I paused. She _did_ have a point. Why was I visiting him? "Because I care about him." I surprised myself with my own answer. As soon as I said it I knew it was true. I did care, and I had been worried about him.

"Why's he in the hospital?"

"He got hurt."

"How?"

I forgot how curious my little sister could be. Five years apart can make you forget things like that.

"He's a field agent—someone that goes out and gets the terrorists. There was an explosion…and he was injured pretty badly…mostly his eyes."

"Is he going to be alright?" She asked, sounding alarmed.

"I don't know. That's what I'll found out, I guess."

The rest of the trip was silent again. I dropped her off at the mall entrance promising to call and pick her up when I was done.

"I hope Mike is okay." She said quietly before slamming the passenger door shut.

"Me too." I said out loud to myself.


	2. Chapter 2

Recovering - Chapter Two

The nurse told me Mike's room was on the third floor, room 303. The elevator was out of order, so I took the stairs. By the time I made it to the floor labeled with a giant '3' I was sweating and breathing hard.

"Nadia?" A familiar voice asked.

I turned around and gave a tight smile. "Chloe, hi. What are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes "Seeing my OB, turns out I'm pregnant."

"Uh," My stomach turned. I shouldn't have asked. "That's great. I'm sure Morris is thrilled." I managed to get out.

She shrugged. "Yeah. What are you doing here?"

I blushed. "I'm here to see agent Doyle." I started to pick at my finger nails, a nervous habit I'd had since I was a kid. Why was I nervous? It wasn't weird for one agent to visit another just to see how they're doing…right?

"Oh." Chloe said flatly, apparently not finding my visit strange. Then, as she turned around to leave she mumbled "It's Tony and Michelle all over again."

"What? Who are Tony and Michelle?" I asked, completely bewildered.

Chloe waved me off "Nobody. Don't worry about it."

"Okay…Bye…" My voice trailed off.

Deciding to decode Chloe's little message later, I turned my attention back to finding Mike. I stood in front of room 303 for a minute, trying to think of what I'd say when I walked in. 'hi, I'm the chick at CTU that you suspected of terrorism, do you remember me?' or 'hey, I'm the one that authorized the mission that almost killed you, so it's really my fault that you're here…What's up?' I shook my head. Ridiculous.

I placed my hand on the door knob and closed my eyes and just walked in. When I opened them I realized my time deciding what to say had been wasted. He wasn't awake. I stepped closer and saw that he had bandages over his eyes and tubes coming out of his arms. I instinctively reached for his pale hand when I felt another hand on my shoulder.

I jumped and turned to see what looked like the brunette, hazel-eyed version of Mike.

"John Doyle." He introduced himself, offering me his hand.

"Nadia Yassir." I replied, taking his hand.

He shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other "So, you know my brother?" He gestured to Mike.

I nodded. "I met him at CTU yesterday…" I paused and looked down at Mike's bandaged face "He saved my life."

John must have sensed my worry because he automatically started explaining Mike's condition "He's going to be alright," He said hastily " They've got him on sedatives right now. He'll need a surgery to get the shrapnel out of his eyes, then some physical therapy, but he'll be okay."

I blinked hard to keep back tears. Why was I tearing up? He just said he was going to be okay.

"That's great." I said after clearing my throat.

John stood and walked towards the door. "Listen, I'm making a run to the snack machine, you want anything?" He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb in the direction of the cafeteria.

"No, thanks."

"Okay." He said as he walked out.

I took his seat next to the bed and scooted in closer. I hesitantly touched his hand. "Hey," I said, feeling silly for talking to someone that probably couldn't hear or understand me anyway "It's Nadia. I'm from CTU…I met you the other day." I paused for a moment, not knowing what to say next. "I'm sorry I don't know what else to say…I want to say something," I shook my head and looked down at his hand "…but I can't. I don't know how. I don't really even know why I'm here." I looked around the room for a minute, then looked back at him "I guess I was scared that you wouldn't have anyone with you...and I didn't want you to be alone."

I leaned back in my chair. For the first time in two days I actually felt exhausted. My eyelids felt heavy and I slowly closed them. A woke up to the sound of John sliding in another chair.

"Oh, sorry!" He whispered, seeing that he'd woke me up.

"What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

He glanced at his watch "Almost noon."

I shot up in my seat. "I've got to go pick up my sister." I stood up and walked towards the door, then thinking better of it, I walked back and took out a piece of paper from my purse.

"Here," I said, scribbling down my cell phone number and handing it to John "to keep me updated on his condition." I explained.

"Alright, will do." He tucked the slip of paper into his pocket.

I made it back to my car without running into anyone else I knew. I dialed Nijah's cell number.

"Hello?" Nijah's voice greeted me.

"Hey, it's Nadia. I'm on my way."

"Okay, I'll be at the North entrance."

"Sounds good...See you in ten."

When I drove up to the mall I could barely see Nijah. She was in the middle of a group of guys that appeared to be a little older than her. A waited for a few moments, then realized she probably didn't see me. I parked and walked up to the group.

"Towel head!" One of the boys yelled at Nijah.

"Why don't you go back to your own country, terrorist?" Another jeered.

Another boy poked her in the shoulder. That was the last straw. I pushed my way into the group and protectively put my arm around Nijah's shoulders.

"Back off!" I demanded, squeezing her tighter.

She look relieved to see me and didn't fight to pull away like she usually would.

The boys ignored my order.

One stepped forward "Look, little terrorist girl brought back up!" He grinned at me "Not a bad looking one either. I'd like to get a piece of that." The slime ball looked me up and down.

"I said back off." I said more loudly than before.

"Why, you in a hurry? Where you goin'? Terror cell meeting?"

I realized that this conversation wasn't going to get anywhere good so I whipped out my badge and gun from my purse. The group instantly backed up.

"I'm federal agent Yassir. Back up and put your hands where I can see them." I was yelling as loudly as I could and saw that I was gathering attention from the people walking past.

The boys instantly raised their hands in the air. "Look, lady—I mean, ma'am. We don't want any trouble."

I slowly put my gun and badge back in my bag. "Good. Come on Nijah."

We walked back to my car and not one of the boys followed. I waited until we got in the car until I spoke to her.

"Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?" I asked, scanning her for cuts or bruises.

She looked down. "No, they just scared me I guess."

"I'm sorry." I said softly, leaning over and giving her a quick hug. "Those guys are jerks and don't know what they're talking about. You don't listen to a word of what they say, alright?"

"Yeah." She said quietly, looking out the window.

"You want to go home?"

Her head bobbed in what I assumed was a nod. She wasn't in a talking mood and I had to respect it. That was okay, I didn't really want to talk right then either. I had too much on my mind anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Recovering – Chapter Three

I dropped my keys onto the counter and stooped to see what was in the fridge.

"How does pizza sound?" I called over my shoulder to Nijah, who was shuffling to her room.

"Hmm?" she asked, yanking an ear bud out.

"What do you want for dinner?" I rephrased louder.

Nijah joined me at the fridge and scowled at the sad, bland looking contents. "Let's just go out and eat." She said flatly.

I raised an eyebrow "You want to go out..." I asked delicately "after what happened at the mall, I mean."

She looked up at me with an smirk. "Yeah, I'm not going to let a couple of assholes ruin my day."

"Watch it," I said teasingly, nudging her with my elbow "Aunt Parveen would have a heart attack if she heard you talk like that."

We both laughed as I shut the fridge and picked up my keys again, ready to get back to the car.

"Oh," Nijah said, slapping her palm to her forehead. "I forgot to tell you! Aunt Parveen called while you were at work. She wants us to visit her and uncle Marven the day after tomorrow. I said we could. We can, right?"

"Yeah, I've got the next two weeks off of work anyway." I ran my hand through my hair, feeling stressed even at the thought of CTU.

"Sweet!" Nijah exclaimed. "I figured we could make it a day long trip...Maybe go shopping first?"

I nodded. "Sounds great, now let's go get something to eat."

2424242424...

"That was so much fun!" Nijah smiled over at me from the passenger seat.

"I haven't gone out in ages!" I said, smiling back at her.

Since transferring to CTU Los Angels, my free time had dwindled. I found myself putting in more and more overtime hours. Aside from preventing any chance of a love life, it wasn't really a problem until Nijah moved in with me.

"That guy at Taco Time was totally checking you out, Nadia." Nijah giggled.

My expression must have darkened because she quickly asked "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Don't worry about it."

My cell rang. "Agent Yassir." I answered, a habit from work.

"Uh—Is this Nadia?"

"Yes. Who's this?" I asked, taking a sip of my giant sized soda.

"John Doyle. You said to call if anything changed with Mike..." I choked and almost spit out my drink. "You alright?"

I coughed. "Yeah. I'm fine. How's Mike?"

"His doctors say they'll be taking him off the sedatives tonight, he'll be awake early tomorrow morning...maybe 4 or 5AM. I though maybe you'd prefer to visit him while he's awake."

"Oh," I said, pulling into the parking space in front of my apartment. I looked over at Nijah, who was giving me a curious look. I turned off the engine and tossed her the keys, motioning for her to go in the apartment.

When she shut the door I cleared my throat. "Yeah, I can come by tomorrow around 9:00."

"Great! I'm sure he'll be thrilled to see you!"

The line clicked twice. I glanced back at the screen, assuming the click indicated low battery. "Yeah, I'll see you then. Bye."

I leaned forward, putting my elbows on the steering wheel and my head in my hands. There was a tap on my window and I instinctively grabbed my gun and pointed it in one fluid motion. Nijah jumped back and raised her hands over her head.

"Don't shoot!" She yelled.

I put the gun back in my purse and got out of the car. "Don't sneak up on me like that." I mumbled as I walked into the apartment with Nijah trailing behind me.

"Okay, you obviously need this vacation more than I thought." She said.

"Goodnight." I grumbled as I made my way back to my bedroom. "Oh, and I'll probably be gone when you get up in the morning"

"At work?!" Nijah asked in disbelief.

"No, to visit Mike."

"Alright. Good night."

"Night."


End file.
